TAX PHOTOGRAPHS

Between 1939 and 1941, the city photographed every house and building in the five Boroughs. Copies of these unique images are now available for purchase.

HISTORY OF THIS COLLECTION:

During the 1930's, local governments began to use photography as a tool for appraising real property for taxation purposes. New York City was the largest municipality to adopt this technology. The result was 720,000 35mm black and white images of every property in the five Boroughs. The Municipal Archives acquired the original negatives (20,000 strips of film stored in cans) in the early 1980s. The original film stock was nitrate and some negatives had begun to deteriorate and exhibit signs of "redox" blemishes (which look like giant snow flakes). With grant funds from federal, state, and private sources, the Archives duplicated the original negatives so that new prints can be produced and copied them to microfilm so that patrons can easily and safely view the entire collection.

VISIT MUNICIPAL ARCHIVES TO VIEW THE PHOTOS:

The tax photographs are on microfilm for researcher convenience. In order to view the tax photograph of a particular house or building it is necessary to determine the official block and lot number of the property. If you do not know these numbers you can research them at the Archives using our historical map collection. Once the block and lot number has been determined, it is necessary to consult an index to find the film roll number; with this number the appropriate microfilm roll can be selected and placed on the microfilm reader machine to view the picture. It is possible to make paper print-outs of the photographs from the microfilm, although the quality is often very poor.

HOW TO ORDER A COPY FROM THE COLLECTION:

It is not necessary to visit the Municipal Archives to order a copy of the tax photograph of your house or building. You can order a copy online or by mail using the forms below. If the official block and lot number of the property is not known, the Municipal Archives will research it for an additional $5.00 fee. If the Municipal Archives does not find a tax photograph of the property, or for some other reason cannot produce a print, your payment will be returned.

    ORDER ONLINE

    ORDER BY MAIL - (Adobe Acrobat Requred)

GENERAL INFORMATION:

• Allow 4 to 6 weeks for completion of order.
• The building block and lot number will appear in the photograph.
• Vacant lots were not photographed, as well as some public, non-taxable buildings.
• There is only one photo per building. Buildings with multiple street facings or addresses do not generally have multiple photographs.
• Please provide the Block & Lot number from 1940, the current block & lot for that address may be inaccurate, especially if the building is no longer extant.
• The quality of the "Tax" photographs varies considerably; every effort will be made to provide an acceptable print.
• Photographic prints are provided for personal use only and may not be transferred to another individual or institution without permission (home decoration and prints as gifts are permissible). If you wish to publish or re-duplicate a photograph in any way, or use it for any commercial purpose, you must obtain permission and pay the appropriate license fee.

PRINT PRICES:

• $35 - 8"x10" print
• $50 - 11"x14" print
• $4 shipping and handling (up to 6 prints).
• ADD $5 PER ADDRESS IF BLOCK & LOT NUMBER IS NOT INCLUDED.
• If photograph is not found, payment will be refunded.